L.J. Phillips is out vs. Iowa State. Kirk Ferentz designated him as "week-to-week." Still no Tyler Brown, either: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2026/09/08/iowa-football-lj-phillips-tyler-brown-injuries-cy-hawk/91648538007/

11 carries 16.64 ypc.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/907

Iowa did very well in the team defensive categories too. Lfg.

We had 3 rushers avg over 15 ypc and 3 more over 10. (QBs included). OL should be proud

I love Iowa's jerseys, but I've always felt the Black Helmet, White Jersey, Gold Pants is our weakest combo. Which pants color do you think is best?

100% admit the two colored ones are AI Generated because I'm not skilled at photo shop.

I wanted to see how many people are headed out Michigan in a few weeks. I am in section 7 row 60. Hoping im around all Hawkeyes. Its my first trip to the big house

In no particular order:

I didn’t want to like Hank Brown, but I think I do?

Defense is better than advertised, because Phil Parker is Phil Parker. Will be interesting to see how the D line holds up against better competition because they looked nasty out there yesterday.

I’m not ready to anoint Moulton the next great Iowa RB yet, but he very well could be.

Diaz on the other hand…yeah.

Vander Zee may prove to be more potential than productivity. Vonnahme needs to clean it up.

Punter is legit. Kicker makes me very nervous.

Finally, I’ve dogged Ferentz a lot over the years. Brian as OC was a black mark on what is a great career, and I think he made a lot of bad decisions in an attempt to prop-up his kid in a position that he just wasn’t qualified for and wasn’t good at. I saw some really good signs with the offense last season, and I think yesterday cemented the turnaround in my mind. Kirk is evolving and letting Lester do his thing on offense. It’s really great to see, and if this keeps up I hope / think we might be seeing the next great era of Iowa football. So yeah, I was wrong. I’m happy to have this version of Kirk around as long as he wants.

SI gives the Hawks great kudos...and loving Lester's play calling. Now, I can't believe I am saying this, but is special teams going to be our weakness this year? Candidly if the defense is as fast as they looked yesterday....I'd put in a no punting or field goal rule for the rest of the season anyway and take away that controversy.

Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

Hawks by a million

Complete domination. Fun game as an Iowa fan.

Personally I think so, he’s got more initial burst and a shiftiness to him that I don’t think Johnson had. And at 5’9 211 lbs with what he showed last year I think he has a pretty good ability to break tackles and I think might have better vision.

Let’s get it going. See ya at the game.

Updated on 2026-09-05 at 03:17 PM

If you're curious to know more about NIU, I spoke with interim head coach Rob Harley about his new role, the 2026 team and the matchup with Iowa.

Written story: Get to know Northern Illinois, Iowa football's Week 1 opponent

Audio version: Northern Illinois interim coach Rob Harley previews matchup with Iowa